Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts

With a backdrop of stunning southern Utah landscapes and a bright and bustling art scene, Historic Downtown Cedar City should be the starting hub for any art enthusiast. The highlight of the arts scene in downtown is found concentrated in the sculpture gardens, theaters, art museum and carefully cared-for grounds of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts. Known to locals as The Beverley, this large space incorporates visual arts, live theater, and dynamic arts education opportunities.  

Completed in July of 2016, the Beverley Center is now the home of the Tony-Award-Winning Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Southern Utah Museum of Art, several annual art events, and two stunning sculpture gardens. 

The Utah Shakespeare Festival

One of the oldest and largest Shakespeare festivals in North America, the Tony-Award Winning Utah Shakespeare Festival is a beloved annual tradition for guests from all over the United States and beyond. Every year the professional cast and crew members of the festival perform seven to eight plays in repertory between three theaters. These three theatres found their home at the Beverley Center in July of 2016 and have been welcoming guests ever since.

• The large outdoor space of the Engelstad Theatre offers an intimate view of the stage beneath star-studded skies. With modern accessibilities and features, the theater was still designed to offer the grandeur of Shakespeare's Globe.
• Gilded in gold applique, rich red carpets, and floor-to-ceiling windows, the indoor Randall L. Jones theatre is a beautiful space perfect for a fancier night out to catch a musical or contemporary play.
• While the indoor Eilen and Allen Anes studio is a flexible black box space that seats 200 people and offers a truly unique experience. 

Southern Utah Museum of Art

Find inspiration in rotating exhibits, outstanding artists, and stunning sculpture courts. 

The Southern Utah Museum of Art (affectionately known as SUMA) is a state-of-the-art museum featuring artwork from SUU students, local and regional artists, as well as nationally and internationally recognized artists. SUMA houses nearly 2,000 objects in its permanent collection, including a significant body of work by Jimmie F. Jones, a distinguished landscape painter whose estate laid the foundation for the museum's creation. 

Sculpture Gardens

The art at the Beverley Center extends beyond the walls of the Utah Shakespeare Festival theatres and the Southern Utah Museum of Art. Two sculpture gardens, landscaped with vibrant flowers, and dotted with stone benches and beautiful works of art offer a great place to wander between performances. 

Stillman Sculpture Court

The vision of the Stillman family, when donating to the creation of the sculpture court had a vision of "creating a space dedicated to many variations of the human form: showing a variety of emotions, ages, activities, body types, attire, and cultures." Together with the Southern Utah Museum of Art, seven sculptures created by different artists and reflecting different ideas were added to the permanent collection.  These seven sculptures are named: The Sower, Threshold, Conversation With Myself, Jubilation, Raindrops, Pastoral Dreamer, and Seedlings. 

Pedersen Shakespeare Character Garden

The Catherine and Robert Pedersen Character Garden features some of Shakespeare's most famous lovers, warriors, kings, and scoundrels. Beautifully landscaped with gentle music playing and stone benches to sit on, it's a quiet space for contemplation, reading, and inspiration. Located between the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre and the Randall L. Jones it's a favorite place to wander between performances or for a quick breather and freshly baked tart during intermission. The Pedersen Character Garden is the largest collection of bronze sculpture Shakespearean Characters in the world. The characters within the garden include Henry V, Juliet, Sir John Falstaff, Cleopatra, Hamlet, Titania, King Lear, Lady Macbeth, Bottom The Weaver, and Shakespeare himself.